The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for providing communication to and from a plurality of remote units located at different locations across a geographical area. More particularly, a communication system and method provides data and voice communication from a base unit to a plurality of mobile command units and remote units located at different locations across the geographical area. The present communication system and method facilitates coordination of an operation such as a military operation, a first responder operation, or other law enforcement or emergency situation where communication coordination between a plurality of remote units is beneficial. Conventional communication systems use cellular phones or two-way radios to provide communication. Such cellular systems require cellular phone towers or other infrastructure to support the communication. Not all areas have suitable cellular infrastructure to provide support for robust communication systems. Two-way radios have limitations as well such as power consumption and the need for large batteries which hinders use in remote units which are typically carried by users on foot.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a mobile command unit for providing voice and data communications with at least one remote communication unit includes a plurality of voice receivers and a plurality of data receivers. Each voice receiver is configured to receive a voice signal from a different voice signal transmitter, and each data receiver is configured to receive a data signal from a different data signal transmitter. The illustrative mobile command unit also includes an audio module coupled to the plurality of voice receivers, the audio module being configured to extract voice information data from a plurality of different voice signals received by the plurality of voice receivers and to generate a plurality of digital voice packets having a uniform format from the extracted voice information data, and a data module coupled to the plurality of data receivers, the data module being configured to convert a plurality of different data signals received by the plurality of data receivers into digital data packets having a uniform format. The mobile command unit further includes a data stream manager coupled to the audio module and the data module, the data stream manager merging the digital voice packets from audio module with the digital data packets from data module to form a digital data stream, and a digital data transmitter coupled to the data stream manager, the digital data transmitter being configured to transmit the digital data stream to a compatible digital data receiver of at least one remote communication unit to provide both voice and data communication with the at least one remote communication unit.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for providing voice and data communications from a plurality of different sources to a remote communication unit includes receiving a plurality of different analog voice signals from a plurality of different analog voice signal sources, each of the analog voice signals including voice information data; extracting the voice information data from the plurality of received analog voice signals; and formatting the extracted voice information data into a plurality of digital voice packets having a uniform format. The illustrative method also includes receiving a plurality of different digital data signals from a plurality of different digital data sources; formatting the plurality of different digital data signals into a plurality of digital data packets having a uniform format; combining the digital voice packets and the digital data packets into a digital data stream; and transmitting the digital data stream to the remote communication unit to provide both voice and data communication with the remote communication unit.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a mobile command unit provides voice and data communications between a base communication unit and a remote communication unit. The mobile command unit includes an analog voice receiver/transmitter configured to receive analog voice signals from the base unit and transmit analog voice signals to the base unit; a data receiver/transmitter configured to receive digital data signals from the base unit and transmit digital data signals from and to the base unit; an adapter coupled to the analog voice receiver/transmitter, the adapter being configured convert analog voice signals received by the voice receiver/transmitter into digital voice packets; and a switch coupled to the adapter and to the data receiver/transmitter. The switch is configured to combine the digital voice packets with digital data packets from the data receiver/transmitter into a digital data stream. An illustrated mobile command unit also includes a digital receiver/transmitter coupled to the switch. The digital receiver/transmitter is configured to transmit the digital data stream from the mobile command unit to the remote communication unit.
In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of command and control systems comprise first, second, third and fourth command and control system which communicate with each other in a hierarchical communication structure. The first command and control system includes a higher command unit having a data compiler/server configured to compile data from a plurality of sources and serve the compiled data, and a data receiver/transmitter coupled to the data compiler/server. The second command and control system includes a base unit having a voice receiver/transmitter, a first data receiver/transmitter configured to receive data signals from the higher command unit and transmit data signals to the higher command unit, a data filter configured to filter data received by the first data receiver/transmitter, and a second data receiver/transmitter configured to transmit filtered digital data signals from the base unit. The third command and control system includes a mobile command unit having a voice receiver/transmitter configured to receive voice signals from the base unit and transmit voice signals to the base unit, a data receiver/transmitter configured to receive data signals from the base unit and transmit data signals to the base unit, an audio module coupled to the voice receiver/transmitter. The audio module is configured to extract voice information data from the voice signals received by the voice receiver/transmitter and to generate a plurality of digital voice packets from the extracted voice information data. The third command and control system also includes a data module coupled to the data receiver/transmitter, the data module being configured to convert a plurality data signals into a plurality of digital data packets, and a digital data transmitter coupled to the audio module and the data module. The digital data transmitter is configured to transmit a digital data stream including the digital voice packets and the digital data packets. The fourth command and control system includes a remote unit having a remote digital data receiver/transmitter configured to receive the digital data stream from the mobile command unit, and a computing device coupled to the remote digital data receiver/transmitter. The computing device being configured to separate and process the voice packets and the data packets from the digital data stream. The fourth command and control system also includes a user interface. The user interface which has a data filter input selection function to permit a user to input, store and transmit a plurality of filter data parameters to mobile command unit and the base unit. The data filter of the base unit receives, stores and executes filtering of data information with the data filter based on the input filter parameters.